Dr. HFH

I last visited LM shortly after it opened, and stayed for roughly a month. My overall impression then was that while the hard product was quite nice, the staff wasn’t sufficiently experienced; and they really didn’t seem to know what they were doing. So while everyone was certainly nice enough, it was as if Dad had bought the kids a hotel and given it to them to run. Recently, I took the opportunity to spend two long weekends there again. Here’s what I found.

I tried to use SNAs for upgrades, as I absolutely love the suites in this property; and it’s unlikely that I’ll use up all my SNAs before they expire. Requested to apply them online for all four nights when I made the rezzie, two days in advance on a prepaid rate. Got the standard response that they would try.

Arrived at the hotel (by BTS and foot) at 1535 against a stated check-in time of 1500. Declined the offer of luggage assistance by staff at the front door (more on that later) as I only had a roll-aboard which was easy to manage. Walked to the left-most of the three check-in desks and was greeted warmly by a young and smiling FDC, including a thank-you for being a PLT Starwood customer. I had been assigned to a suite; but there were none available just then. “Dr. HFH, there are no suites available right now; would you mind waiting for an hour?”

Well, actually, I did mind. Five or ten minutes, no problem. But an hour? I replied, “I’m sorry, I thought that your check-in time is three o’clock.” “Yes, that’s correct. Our check-in time is three o’clock.” “It’s 3:35 now.” “Yes, Dr., but all of our suites are currently occupied by Platinum guests who have requested late checkout at four o’clock. They are Platinum, you know, Dr., and have that option.”

OK. I’m not a DYKWIA kind of guy; but if the hotel is going to throw DYKWTA (Who They Are) at me, then, yes, I will respond. “Yes, well I’m an Ambassador level guest.” So she tapped away on her keyboard for a couple of minutes and finally said, “Dr., if you would like to have a seat in our lobby lounge, we would be happy to provide some refreshment for you while you wait.” “For an hour?” “Yes, it will be an hour.” OK, I get that this may be hard for a hotel to manage. If enough PLT guests request 1600 checkout, then it is going to wreak havoc with arriving guests. But that's not my problem. And really, -- every suite in the hotel was occupied by a PLT guest and every one of them requested 1600 checkout? Sure it's possible, but, IMO, unlikely.

“I really do not want to wait an hour. But here’s an idea: The St. Regis isn’t that far away; and I’m sure that they have suites available. Since I’ve already paid for my room here, why don’t you just book me in over there and you can reimburse them for the suite.” She didn’t know what to make of this request (you could see it on her face); so she got a manager/supervisor. This person was obviously more experienced, clearly more confident. “Dr., would you be so kind as to have a seat in our Lobby Lounge to give me a few minutes to sort this out? I’ll be over in a few minutes.”

That seemed reasonable, so over I went. It’s a nice sitting area, has two staff people waiting/bartending. Seems to serve a variety of coffee drinks as well as alcohol. Sure enough, five minutes later the more senior person came over to me, apologized for the delay and, mirabile dictu, had found a suite which was available immediately. Perfect!! Slight misstep by the original FDC, but great service recovery by supervisor/manager. I don’t recall if I was offered an escort to the room; but I routinely decline them as I’ve stayed at most Starwood hotels in Bangkok and know my way around them, the exceptions being 4P, ROS and StR.

I was assigned room 2124. As I was walking down the hall from the elevator to the room, which was at the end of the hall on the left (windows facing Wat Hua Lamphong), I noticed that the carpet was in poor condition. It looked dirty and there were numerous dark and highly visible stains. This needs some attention. Presumably the hallway carpet on other floors is in similar condition.

A young man arrived at my door within five minutes after I did. He was carrying a tray on which was a small chocolate gift along with a note from the GM thanking me for my visit. At first, I thought that this was my checkin amenity (I always take the points); but clarified that this was in addition. Possibly due to Amb. status, but who knows? Very nice touch. A few minutes after that, I received a telephone call from the FDC who had checked me in; she was inquiring whether everything in the room was satisfactory. Again, very nice touch. Really made me feel that the hotel cares about me as a guest.

The suite was exactly as I remembered it, except that it was on the opposite side of the building from where I had stayed last time, so the bedroom was on the right as you enter the room instead of the left. OK, I can probably get used to that. The carpet in the room isn’t in great shape, either. While there were no significant stains, there were some smaller ones; and it was obvious that it hadn’t been vacuumed in a while, let alone shampooed. It wasn’t vacuumed at all during my stay, either. One interesting quirk I noticed for the first time on this visit is that there are no drawers in the bedroom. Nor is there any type of small table next to the bed. There is a low counter attached to the wall right up to both sides of the bed, but a drawer would be nice. Actually, I thought it a bit odd.

As usual, and as expected, there were flat screen televisions in both the living and bed rooms, around 30 inches, I think. LM seems to subscribe to some standard hotel type of package for channels, and several were not operating while I was there (the picture was dissembling on the screen). I never liked this arrangement, -- why can’t hotels just have normal cable/satellite service?

The bathroom was in excellent condition, the black marble having held up much better than I had expected. It wasn’t discolored at all. I really like the layout of the bathroom. If you haven’t stayed in a suite at LM, it’s worth it. The hard product is great; and the shower in the suite is, well, spectacularly huge. It’s rectangular, long and narrow, much like a walk-in closet. You walk in at the middle; at each end of the shower there is one shower head on a hose, one rainfall shower head and a set of controls. For one person, it’s cavernous. For two, very spacious. For three, comfortable and uncrowded. Four? Cozy. And five is pretty much the limit. Adjust appropriately for people who are larger than I. The little room with the toilet has a door made out of frosted glass so you can’t see through it. (Please take note, W Bangkok management.)

The bathroom has two sinks, and each sink had a facecloth rolled up in front of it. There were two hand towels hanging on a chrome rail in front of the sinks. Additionally, four bath towels were provided, three rolled up on a shelf and one hanging on the shower door. The bathtub is some type of plastic, both large and deep, and looks very comfortable. I didn’t try it. On the other side of the tub there is a floor-to-ceiling sliding door which opens to the bedroom if you wish.

Water pressure was good and there was plenty of hot water.

The living room was furnished comfortably. There was a working desk on the other side of an étagère as you walk into the room from the hallway. The desk (again, no drawers) was comfortable for working, as was the desk chair. There are connections for various video options, internet and power. The living room also has what I think is a Nespresso machine (I forgot to write it down). At least it works like a Nespresso; and there were four different types of coffee cartridges provided, along with mugs, spoons, sugar, etc.

I ate breakfast in the hotel every day. Interestingly, there is a separate, smaller breakfast seating area reserved for PLT guests about half a flight of stairs down from the main seating area in what appears to be a sort of bar. This bar is also where they prepare the coffee and tea at breakfast. Note that LM uses Illy coffee, which I particularly like. The cappuccino was delicious. The green tea (what I usually drink at breakfast) was OK, but not better. I learned from one of the F&B management trainees that the hotel apparently serves two types of green tea; although none of the waitstaff ever informed me that there was a choice, either before or after I learned that there are two types. I tried them both; and one was definitely better than the other, but neither was great. OTOH I recognize that I’m fairly particular about green tea, and am accustomed to green tea of a very high quality.

Breakfast was perfectly fine. Nothing great, but perfectly fine. Some items to note: There were no bagels. Maybe it’s just me, but if you’re going to serve smoked salmon (and there was smoked salmon, -- it was pretty good, too) then you should also have bagels and cream cheese available. Not everyone likes it with capers and chopped onion. Actually, I thought that the bakery items were fairly limited. I didn’t see any doughnuts, either. (Compare to SGS which has both freshly baked at breakfast every day.) No brioches, no soft rolls, not even a loaf of a nice, crusty French bread. The bakery area could use some enhancement.

One of the things I really did not like was the orange juice. It's not freshly squeezed, -- I made the same criticism when I was there when it first opened. As I've said, LM fancies itself a five star hotel. But no freshly squeezed orange juice? And what they do serve has added sugar. If, as a result of previous comments here (including mine), management thought about this and decided not to serve fresh orange juice, they need to think again. You can buy it cheaply enough on the street, -- you need to serve it at breakfast, too. This is not the place to try to save money.

They had two good looking pig legs displayed on a very nice and highly polished slicer. I believe that one was prosciutto, and the other parma ham. Unfortunately, they were there for show, as there was no way to slice it yourself, there was no one to slice it for you and there was nothing pre-sliced and available on a plate for you to help yourself. I did ask for some parma ham on one day; and the same F&B management trainee had some sliced for me which was delicious, -- paper thin, wonderful taste and soft. Now the problem, of course, with pre-slicing it very thin (the way that they should and actually do slice it) is that when you do that and plate it, it dries out very quickly, usually taking on the consistency of leather. But perhaps they could move the entire display to behind the counter where they make eggs, etc., and have one of the staff slice it on request.

One staff member is assigned to the egg station. I observed two different people in that position while I was there. One was fine, -- engaging, friendly, smiling. The other seemed completely disinterested in his job. His products were fine, but he made little to no eye contact and never smiled. The bacon was the way I prefer it, -- I don’t like crispy bacon. French toast wasn’t that great, -- they make it fresh on request, but they don’t leave the bread in the egg batter long enough. They pretty much dip it in and take it right out. IMO the bread needs a couple of minutes to soak up some of the batter. Also, the “maple syrup” tasted like what we Americans would call pancake or breakfast syrup. It didn’t really have a maple flavor. I question whether it is real maple syrup. That said, of course, I recognize that maple syrup is quite expensive in the U.S.; I can’t imagine what it costs here. OTOH, if the hotel wants to be considered a five star property (and it does), then it needs to think about things like this.

One very nice thing they have at breakfast is Prosecco (no charge, at least not for PLT guests). I had one glass and quite enjoyed it. It was slightly over-chilled, just as I like it. Another very nice and a bit unusual breakfast item is that they have one baked dessert available each day. I had what I believe was a brioche pudding with raisins accompanied by a chocolate sauce, and on another day a chocolate bread pudding accompanied by crème anglaise. Both were excellent; and I had seconds of both (well, OK, thirds of the chocolate bread pudding drowning in crème anglaise – don’t tell my doctor!!). There are three sauces offered daily, chocolate, crème anglaise and red fruit (strawberry?).

I went to the PLT “Happy Hour” twice. Once it was in the Bamboo Chic bar. There were four other guests, a couple and two other singles, both of whom were engrossed in their smart phones. I sat at the bar and ordered a Cosmo, altered the way I like it (rocks, slightly sweeter than normal and with half an orange squeezed into it). Given that it was their first time making my drink, they tried hard to make it exactly as I wished, and asked how it was after I tasted it. I didn’t want to complain, and said that it was fine. (But if she’s going to be my bartender, a little more training will be needed on my version of the Cosmo.) And it wasn’t a perfunctory ask, either. The staff was genuine and engaging; they seemed happy in their work. I was hungry, so I ordered from the bar snack menu. I had a timbale of salmon; and it was excellent. It was also priced significantly lower than I had anticipated that it would be.

The other night I went to Happy Hour it was being held in the living room of the Grande Avantgarde Suite (THB 55,000++ = THB 64,735 AI per night on the LM website; I don’t know if that’s Rack or BAR) as Bamboo Chic had been booked by a private party, a wedding, IIRC. The same staff were there, smiling and attentive. There were tasty hors d’oeuvres both nights, too. Each guest got a “set” of small samples of three different items, refills available on request.

Overall, I like the hard product a lot. Not surprisingly, it’s a bit European and you have to like that, but it works. One item of note is that the omnipresent music in public areas, particularly the elevators, has been toned down substantially. Now it provides a nice background to conversation instead of making conversation impossible by drowning it out. Readers may recall that there were several complaints about this on FT when the hotel first opened.

Front Door Staff. AFAICT, front door staff is a combination of bellmen and security staff. Unfortunately, they dress identically, in the ubiquitous black suit, white shirt, open collar and no tie. So you don’t know who’s who. At least for me, a clearer delineation would be helpful. One of the things I noticed about the front door staff is that while they will hold the door for you, the person holding the door rarely engages. So, for example, he’ll be holding the door for you as you walk out while he is looking past you to see what else is going on in the lobby. When a staff member is assisting you, you are (should be) the center of his/her attention. S/he should meet your eyes, smile and greet you with something appropriate, friendly and welcoming (Good morning/afternoon/evening, Enjoy your day, Welcome back, Sawasdee khrap, etc.).

On one evening it was raining when I went out, not terribly surprising in late August. I asked at the bell desk for an umbrella. Staff person (again, I didn’t know if he was a bellman or security person) got a book of forms, asked me for my room number, filled out a form in duplicate and asked me to sign it. IMO this is a terrible way to do it. When the hotel first opened, was umbrella theft by guests such a huge problem that they had to institute this system? And even if one or two were stolen (I have to believe that umbrella theft by guests is a fairly rare occurrence), is the cost so significant a part of the hotel’s annual budget that this tracking/accounting procedure is required? This is the first time it’s ever happened to me; and it made me feel that the hotel doesn’t trust me. Why aren’t they making me sign for the towels in my room, which I expect are the objects of guest theft much more frequently than umbrellas? Not a good feeling. Doesn’t make me feel like a welcome guest, -- made me feel like an anonymous customer. If LM wants to be considered a five star hotel, it needs to make its guests feel welcome. Management needs to rethink this.

Some general comments on the staff. Clearly, there has been a fair amount of training since the hotel first opened; and it shows. Other than the front door staff (who were sometimes friendly, but just as often not; and when they were friendly, it felt much more perfunctory than genuine), everyone smiled with each guest interaction, was genuinely friendly and did their best to meet guests’ needs. You can tell that the staff really cares. My only criticism in this space is that it’s not yet second nature to them. As easily as you can tell that they care, you can also tell that, with a few exceptions, they’re constantly thinking about what they should be doing; it’s not second nature to them yet. But that will come with time.

LM believes itself to be a five star hotel. I’d give it four for now. It’s not yet running like a well-oiled machine. But LM has a nice hard product, and a staff comprised of people who are friendly and genuinely care and simply need continued training and more time. I think that it’s fairly priced, and would recommend the hotel to anyone.